"This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." - 1 John 5:3-4



how many times have we said we love the Lord but never obeyed Him? God defines what loving Him to Him means. To God, He knows we love Him when we obey Him.



"Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.(bold mine) My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. " -John 14:22-24



"If you love me, you will obey what I command." -John 14:15


not sure why i am reminded of this tonight. maybe i'm evaluating my walk with God..have i been obedient to God ? Or am i just "loving" the Lord?


O Lord, i want to love you by obeying You.

posted by ser @ 1:18 AM   0 Comments

i want to remember this night because the Lord has shown me His faithfulness and sovereignty in this relationship.


"Not because of who I am.
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done.
But because of who you are. " -lyrics from Who am I by Casting Crowns



"It awes and humbles me to be loved by a God so high. " -lyrics from What Can I do by Paul Baloche


"When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?" -Psa 8:3-4


O Lord, i pray many more will come to experience this from You. That in Your love, they need not fear. Indeed in Your perfect love, we need not fear anything. :)

posted by ser @ 1:39 AM   0 Comments

"as long as Christ is in the centre of it all, no matter how the relationship turns out, it will be good. " -Isaac



free to hold
free to let go
time to think
time to decide

can i have the liberty to love without knowing (much consideration) what the future holds?

Lord i want to trust You that even when i fail to know, You do.
Even when i fail to understand You Know
Even in mistakes, error or wrongs, You are above them.
O Lord, teach me to walk close to You.

posted by ser @ 1:36 AM   0 Comments

posted by ser @ 2:17 PM   0 Comments

i bid farewell to this year; a year marked with numerous changes; at work, church and at home. some significant events in 09 include:


i began to take on counseling cases at work.


i was in a relationship for the 1st time! 1st in 25 years of age. :) though it was brief, i learnt alot of things just by being in it and out of it. this experience has tutored me more in the area of bgr than i could ever read.


i moved house (technically not yet but soon), away from my home in Queenstown where i resided for about 10 years. and i didn't even get to say goodbye to the flat as i was in Cambodia. hmmm.. but i didn;t miss it as much as i thought i would. Welcome Mt Faber!


i led footprints expedition 2009.


i stepped down as CL of AHH in Sep, and Lionel took over, with Arron as ACL! i will fondly remember those times i spent with the members; times in the prayer closet, times of leadership, times of partnering the the Holy Spirit, times of laughter and fun, times of bicker and strife! :)


2 of my best friends, Su Yin and Jess got married! What a joyous time of celebration and marital bliss! feels bad that i was not able to be present at Yin's wedding! :( super disappointed. Hmmm.. i foresee more weddings this year and the next! Need to save up!


First time mcee in a ROM! that was Jess and Ryan 's ROM. and in mother tongue some more! Wa.. so glad everything went well and i didn't get tongue tied!


A year plus old as a social worker. yeay i survived! :) it had been an eye opener and great learning time.


my brother entered RP year 1. time flies! my brother is no longer the small little boy or pia kia/ botak! lol. and he has outgrown my armpit. :( haha.


my friend Swee Sing came back from Canada. this friend whom i msned with quite regularly is finally home. its great to see him face to face than online! lol.


woa. i'm sure there are other significant moments/milestones in 2009 but thats all i can remember for now. and with bading farewell to 2009, i am ready to face 2010, whatever comes! i entered 2010 with much downess of soul and discouragement, but praise God, just in the last couple of days, i felt God speaking to me through my prayers, as i read Growing Deep In God (Edmund Chan), read perry noble's blog, and hearing the pastors speak at the church services. because the Lord has spoken and shown me what is it that has been hindering my walk with Him, i feel much better and ready to face the year ahead with much hope and cheer. I also feel the Lord nudging me to step up to serve in ministry again.


i'm ready Lord for 2010. :)

posted by ser @ 2:05 AM   0 Comments

footprints:
GLAD TO BE BACK!
looking back, it was a trip i wished i didn't have to go for.
it is not that i dont like Cambodia.
it is the nature of such a trip and the fact that i was leading it
everyday there is like so stressful
i was sharing with my cell i felt i suffered there.
:(
it was bad.
even now i am still resolving within myself; trying to make sense of all the negative things that happened and to 'recover'. till now i am still very much affected. instead of it being my pride, i want to have nothing more to do with it! i think its because the trip brings back too many negative and stressful incidents that i do not want to re-live. i dunno if i'll ever find the confidence to lead such a trip again. this experience had killed so much of my joy that i couldnt even enjoy anything properly. it seemed, the negative experiences had overpowered the positive ones. been feeling down since i came back from the trip and whenever i think of this trip. it has now taken the no 1 spot on the 'much forgotten past' list! :(
much as i want to move on from here, i realise i am not able to, because it has such a strong hold on me.
i hope God help me find a way to stand back on my feet again.


and Sg is really a blessed place!
as our plane touched down at Changi Airport, i kept thinking that we Singaporeans are so blessed to be able to live, work and move in such a place like this. too often we take the things in Sg for granted. how often should we remind ourselves that there are MANY people who may never live like we do! we have so much yet we complain so much, always hunger for more but never satisfied!
this 2nd trip to Cambodia has really taught me humility and thankfulness.
i saw poverty and meekness of heart--people who really have nothing (possession or wealth or roof), YET they are not greedy. They view what they are given with much gratefulness and humility.


christmas:
this year was unique for a few reasons.

1) i organised a dinner and all 12 of my friends who said they would come, CAME! lol. awesome feat! imagine no one fly me aeroplane and chose to spend christmas night with me! that was an awesome honour! :) thanks to all who turned up and gamely brought a gift and dressed up to the theme! hope all of you had fun! i did! it was so much fun watching the reactions for the gift exchange!! hmmm, i should give out a best dressed award! and perhaps best prop? lol. loved that super clumsy gloves! ha.


2) i resumed the age old tradition of writing christmas cards. i think i wrote to around 12 people this time. this 12 people are really special and close to my heart. :) there are a few other close friends whom i did not write to, because i was really tired after writing all the cards in one night! i realise if i were to write a card for each person who mean much to me...... i'll prob take a week to finish! :) din really realise there are actually quite a significant no of people in my life who mattered to me until i started writing the cards. i enjoyed writing the cards! it was also a blessed time as i wrote, God brought to mind verses and encouragement for the individuals. i also find myself wanting to share my more personal thoughts and feelings with the one i'm writing to. so to you who received my card, you are so privileged! haha.. ;)


3) i missed Christmas service in church!!! ouch! it was really disappointing to not be there. this is the 1st time for the past 6 years that i was not in church on christmas. sigh x100.
i think i really missed out much. its such a joy to celebrate christmas in church! note to self: SLEEP early on christmas eve!


outcome:
decided, concluded.
waiting; game over.
settled, unsettling.
readjust, feels different again.
down.
indecisiveness has taken its hold
far too long
down.
took for granted.
big difference.
down.
i'm lost.
it doesn't help.
it doesnt make me any better.


been thinking alot since. and i just hate how indecisive i can be. if indecisveness cost money, i would have been bankrupt many times over! at least u're decisive.


2010 resolution:

i remembered last year, mine was "to trust God in everything". after all the many things that happened in the past month, maybe this year my resolution should be, "make God everything".
i was reading an online writeup that Matt recommended and the author said "i want to do something that takes everything out of me."

WOA.
did that blow u away?
it blew me!


what is it like to do something that takes everything out of you?


of cos the reason why the author came to make that decision was because she had hit rock bottom of life; and had to come to a decision on how she want to continue living her life or end it. Choosing to continue living the way she lived was not an option. And she chose to live, to live to dance. And she not just wanted to dance, she wanted to dance with all of herself, to the best of her ability.



only 1 life. how will I choose to live it?


how will you?


go make your 2010 resolution! :)

posted by ser @ 10:29 PM   0 Comments